1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to apparatus and methods for routing telephone calls. More specifically, the present invention relates to routing telephone calls around the Local Exchange Carrier.
2. Description of the Prior Art
FIG. 1 (prior art) shows how telephone calls are currently routed. A caller dials telephone 102 to place a call. The call travels via line 104 to Local Exchange Carrier (LEC) 106. In conventional telephone systems, there is no intelligence at the caller's residence. All of the intelligence resides at the Local Exchange Carrier (LEC) or central office 106. LEC 106 knows which telephone is placing a call simply by which physical line the call is coming in on.
A call is placed as follows. The caller picks up the receiver of telephone 102, which connects a circuit in the telephone, allowing current to flow. This current flow alerts switch 108 within LEC 106 that a call is about to be placed from that telephone 102. Switch 108 causes a dial tone to be heard at telephone 102. Next, the caller dials the number. The dialed number's DTMF (Dual-tone Multifrequency) tones are decoded by switch 108 to determine whether the call is local or long distance. If the call is local, LEC 106 simply makes a connection between the calling line 104 and the called line (not shown) and causes the called phone to ring.
If the call is long distance, LEC 106 performs several functions. It determines which long distance carrier the call is to be delivered to, it formats the call in the form required by that long distance carrier, and it generates the ANI (automatic number identification) of the calling telephone 102. The ANI is used by the LEC 106 and IXC 116 for billing purposes. The ANI is also used to identify which long distance carrier or IXC the call should be transferred to. Once switch 108 determines the correct signaling format for the selected IXC, the signal interface 112 generates the SS7 or feature group D signals for transferring the long distance call to IXC 116.
Since the breakup of AT&T, competition between long distance carriers has become fierce, resulting in considerable savings to callers. What all long distance carriers have in common, however, is the need to pay access fees to local carriers in order to use the local phone company's infrastructure. About 45 cents out of every dollar in long distance charges is paid to the local phone companies, split between each end of the call in the form of access charges.
Avoiding the long distance access charges to local exchange carriers is a big incentive. However, in order to do this, the functions performed by the local exchange carrier, as well as the transport infrastructure, must be replaced. In addition, as laws change to permit the creation of competitive local exchange carriers (CLECs) low cost apparatus and methods of distributing local phone calls will need to be developed.
A need remains in the art for apparatus and methods to bypass the local exchange carrier, yet perform necessary local exchange carrier functions in an efficient and cost effective manner.